Cool for the Summer
by Tieria Dylandy
Summary: On a rare visit to Earth, the Paladins decide to take a short vacation and relax on a tropical island. Shiro and Allura spend some quality time on the beach.
1. Chapter 1

Allura had been laying in the hammock on the porch of the little beach villa where she and Shiro were staying with the other Paladins. It was one of their rare visits to Earth. They had rarely found any down time since the war with the Galra entered a new phase. The sudden appearance of Zarkon's son Lotor meant that they had a new enemy to deal with. Their last battle with the Galra Prince had been a brutal one. By some miracle they were able to soundly defeat him with minimal loss. It was Lance's suggestion that they take a tropical vacation and they all agreed that they needed a break.

Allura stretched her arms over her head. The tropical heat was something that she was used to. The island that they were staying at was just off the coast of Australia and reminded her of the South Ocean islands on Altea. She was wearing the skimpy swim wear that human women bikini she was wearing hardly something she would have worn back on her homeworld. It barely contained her considerable cleavage and sometimes she felt like her breasts were going pop out with the slightest movement. And the bottoms were just as skimpy. At least she didn't feel like she was the only person dressed like this. She had seen girls swimming,surfing and lounging on the beach wearing similar swim suits.

Allura swung herself out of the hammock and went down onto the sand. She immediately realized that wasn't a good idea. The sand was burning hot under her bare feet and she immediately jumped back up the steps and went into the ran to the bedroom and got out a pair of also grabbed a cover up and threw it on. Once again she started to go outside, when she heard her name called. Shiro had been in the kitchen putting away the lunch dishes. The other Paladins were all outside, even Pidge, had agreed to leave the villa and spend some time outside even though she swore up and down she was going to kill Shiro if she got a sunburn.

"Where are you headed off to?" Shiro asked as he flung a towel over his shoulder. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of board shorts. The muscle shirt showed off his powerful arms. Part of her wanted to see him shirtless, but Shiro was very self conscious of his scars.

"I was going to go for a walk on the beach," Allura said. She could feel Shiro's gaze on her and it made her feel both exposed and turned on. The bikini wasn't helping any.

"Don't you think you're going to get a little hot wearing that cover up?" Shiro asked. He found the bikini very flattering on her. Shiro remembered once that Allura told him that Alteans swam naked and found the idea of wearing a swim suit a little strange.

Allura flushed. "That's a very good point," she answered as she took the sheer wrap off and folded it over a chair. She grabbed a bottle of sunscreen and one of the folded beach towels laying on the kitchen table.

"Do you want to come down to the beach with me?" Allura asked looking over her shoulder at Shiro as she headed to the door.

"Sure. I'd love to," Shiro told her as he picked up a beach towel." Keith and Lance are taking surfing lesson from a local surfer. I have no idea where Pidge and Hunk are."

"Well. Let's hit the beach then!" Allura said with a smile of triumph. And they headed out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Cool For the Summer Part two

Luckily for Shiro and Allura the beach wasn't far from the villa. In fact, it was practically on their door step. Shiro grabbed his sunglasses before they were out the door and contacted the others to let them know he and Allura had gone down to the beach. Hunk had gone to the local market to get provisions for dinner. Lance and Keith were still taking surfing lessons, which surprised the hell out of Shiro and Allura. It was rare for the Blue and Red Paladin to get along, but they were starting to. Pidge was around somewhere.

As soon as they found a spot, Allura and Shiro laid their towels down. Allura kicked off her flip flops as she sat down. Shiro sat down next to her. Allura wished that the Black Paladin would take off his shirt. She knew that he was embarrassed about his scars and didn't like to be seen shirtless. He uncomfortable with people seeing the scars because they oftened raised questions about how he got them, which meant he had to relive his time as a gladiator fight for the amusement of their Galra enemies.

"You know," Allura said to Shiro. " You should really take off your shirt. Aren't you getting hot?" The smile on her face was teasing.

"Allura," Shiro said. She could tell from the look on his face, he was very reluctant to do as she suggested. "Yes, I am getting hot. No, I don't want to take my shirt off."

"Come on,Shiro," Allura said, a warm smile spreading across her features. "I know that you're self conscious about your scars,but no one is going to notice." Shiro sighed and began to pull his shirt over his head.

Allura smiled as she watched Shiro pull the shirt over his head and toss it next to his beach towel. Shiro was definitely one of the finest specimen of male physical perfection that she had ever seen and she had seen some very fine physically fit men in her life. She tried to run her gaze casually over the Black Paladin's torso. Allura grabbed the sunscreen and twisted off the cap.

"Come here," Allura ordered. Shiro was watching her and did as he was told. Shiro knew that his skin was really pale from his time spent in captivity and from fighting a war in space. He turned so that his back was to her. Allura rose up on her knees and began spreading the sunscreen across his shoulders. Shiro tried had not flinch. He should be used to this by now.

"Could you please relax," Allura told him as she started rubbing lotion into Shiro's pale skin. "I don't want you to get a sunburn."

Shiro relaxed his shoulders as Allura began to apply the sunscreen to his skin. He hadn't realized that he was so tense because his muscles spasmed as he relaxed his shoulders. The princess's hands were actually rather soothing as as she spread the lotion down his back to where his skin met his boardshorts.

It was a very rare occasion for Allura to able to touch Shiro like this. They often touched hands, brushed shoulders while on the bridge of the Castle ship. She had once walked by accident into the shower area of the Lion Hanger bay one day a couple of months ago, looking for Shiro. Allura should have known better than to just walk into the locker room without checking to see if the other Paladins were fully dressed. It also didn't help that the shower room didn't have stalls to protect the men (and one teenage girl) modesty. The door to the shower room was open and Shiro was still showering. She most certainly got an eyeful of Shiro's naked body. Needless to say, she stood there for a few seconds before the tall man turned around. Allura remembered her fingers twitching at her side wondering what it would be like to touch him. She beat a hasty retreat before he turned around.

"Can you turn around so that I can put some on the rest of your body? Or do you want to?" Allura asked a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"If you don't feel comfortable doing it,Allura. I will," Shiro asked as he turned around.

"It's not that I'm unconfortable doing it. I just wanted to respect your boundaries," Allura answered, a reassuring smile on her face. Shiro took the bottle of sunscreen from her and began to apply it to the rest of his body. The sun was starting to stretch into the West as Shiro and Allura spent the afternoon just lying in the sun and relaxing. The two heard Hunk call their names, which meant that the other Paladins had returned from their activities and that the Yellow Paladin had made something tasty for dinner. They had fallen asleep to soft crash of the waves and the cry of the seagulls. Allura and Shiro gathered up their towels and began walking back to the villa.

"Are you planning on doing anything tomorrow?" the Japanese man asked. He was interested in going scuba diving and was wondering if the Princess wanted to join him. Allura turned to him and smiled.

"I was interested in learning how to scuba dive. I heard Keith and Lance talking about getting scuba diving lessons. Lance thought that it would be a great group activity," Allura answered.

"That's interesting. I was thinking about talking a local guide if anyone taught scuba diving and he said that there is guy who lives here year round who takes visitors scuba diving," Shiro answered.

"Let's talk to the others and see if they would be interested in going as bonding exercise," Allura responded cheerfully as they walked up the front steps of the villa.


End file.
